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SAUK RAPIDS — Any "one-per-person" toilet paper limits in town have made staff at Independent Lifestyles, Inc. get very creative.

Though marketing and development manager Shawn Reagan has made several trips for toilet paper — as have many other members of the staff — he's not keeping it for himself.

Instead, the rolls are one element of 300 care packages Independent Lifestyles has prepared for its consumers — the term the nonprofit uses in place of clients — and plans to deliver beginning this week.

Independent Lifestyles is a private nonprofit serving people with all types of disabilities in 11 Central Minnesota counties. Independent Lifestyles received $151,000 in COVID-19 relief funding as part of the CARES Act, and has spent about $20,000 of that on this first round of care packages, Ruff said.

Independent Lifestyles, Inc.'s predominant population is people with mental illnesses.

"When you have these extreme conditions enforced during a pandemic, that very much exacerbates symptoms and complicates their wellness and their ability to function in a healthy way," executive director Cara Ruff said Monday.

Whole rooms of the work space have been taken over by the packages in various stages of completion. In one room, tables of dish soap, deodorant, toothpaste and almond milk wrap around the perimeter.

"It's taken over," Ruff said.

The organization has amassed more than 20 items — including masks sewn by a former employee — to put in the packages and include personal care items like tissues, soap and shower gel; food items like oatmeal, protein bars and bread; and cleaning supplies like sponges, bleach and wipes.

The packages also include information handouts about what to do if individuals need help getting food, feel isolated or don't feel well, as well as information about preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Some of these items are already hard for their consumers to get themselves, Ruff said. There are several reasons this could be the case — no access to a car, budget restrictions, anxiety.

The focus of the nonprofit is to help individuals live independently who could not otherwise do so, Reagan said, so many consumers already experience a high level of anxiety when it comes to living on their own.

For the vast majority of its supplies, Independent Lifestyles worked with CostCo, which the nonprofit said has been great about helping get supplies in large enough amounts to provide this many packages.

"When CostCo calls, we run," Ruff said.

It is not enough care packages for each of the nonprofit's consumers, so the first round of deliveries is needs-based, Ruff said.

Staff will deliver the care packages in a time that can also serve as a check-in with clients. It is a familiar face and socialization for people already experiencing isolation even before the pandemic, Reagan said.

Independent Lifestyles has further plans to implement with the remainder of its funding, including supporting rural food shelves, doing advocacy work for equitable health care and providing another round of packages, this time more tailored to individual needs.

The nonprofit is also conducting a technology assessment to see how it can support its consumers in that way, including through a lending library or providing cell phones, cell phone minutes or laptops. According to Reagan, this is the only way many can receive services.

In a time when many people feel powerless, it is meaningful to be able to provide this service for its consumers, Ruff said.

"I feel like we're kind of getting a little of our power back, and back to the people who need it the most, and being actually able to do something tangible," she said.

Sarah Kocher is the business reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach her at 320-255-8799 or skocher@stcloudtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahAKocher.